Read any good pirate books lately? Piracy is a very nasty business and far from the glamorous movie images that are often portrayed by Hollywood. Piracy Today is also are a lot more sinister than the often bland media reports that fail to understand the desperate and dangerous situation facing seafarers. Think its like Pirates of the Caribbean? Think again. These guys are cut throat, they don't care about whether they kill you or not, they don't take no for n answer and are very prepared to use automatic weapons to take what they want.
The number one location for piracy or armed robbery for yachts is around Venezuela, and the Southern Caribbean where attacks are regular often with dire and fatal consequences. While officially piracy and armed robbery are classified as separate things that is cold comfort to those attacked, who lose lives, possessions and boats. I have been a seafarer all my life and have been on ships that have been attacked and boarded by pirates, and this isn’t a new problem, but a problem that has escalated as the global economy creates more targets. So wherever you plan to cruise you need to do a serious risk assessment. How do you prepare? what are viable protection strategies? The question of carrying arms, whether to fight back, what are you prepared to do. Difficult choices.
This is an eye-opening account, by respected author and seaman John C. Payne, who lifts the veil on modern piracy, detailing hundreds of very real and frightening accounts up until the present.
The recent hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somalia pirates merely brought worldwide attention to an issue that has been simmering for years.
Piracy has never gone away, and has become even more pervasive in the 21st century, where smaller crews man more technologically advanced ships. Vagaries of jurisdiction and the vast oceans make pirates harder to capture and bring to justice.
In safe havens like Somalia and the Malacca Straits, they are a menace to ships of any type.
What is being done about them, and what more can be done? What precautions can you take with your own yacht?
Payne brings decades of experience to bear on this threat to every sailor.
Click on this link to go back and find out more and all you need to know. Best Selling Pirate Books - Piracy Today